Hello! I have posted a couple videos before and I wanted to see what y'all thought again. I have really been working on my position (staying tall over fences instead of ducking).
My horse and I have been schooling around over smaller fences at home, but we school around 3'6" at lessons with my trainer. He seems a little bored at home, do you see that? How can I help keep him interested?

I'm not sure but it looked like you had piano hands (not thumbs up) and you weren't giving much of a release... And I think your leg needs to come back a little... I like your horse :) What breed is he?

It looked like your leg slid forward slightly in between fences in the grid, and you are rounding your lower back a bit. You look like a very nice, quiet rider and your horse is so cute! I see what you mean about him looking a little bored, though. Maybe you could try 'scary' fences. You can easily make a makeshift liverpool out of a tarp or a colorful filler out of pretty much anything. Try incorporating flatwork into your jumping, also. That seems to help with some horses. Maybe move some fences to add rollbacks or something, as well, just to make things more challenging for him. Pretty much just engage his brain with the work you're doing- extend and collect his stride, etc. That's all I've got, I'm sure others will have some good ideas :).

I agree with the people who posted above-your time at home is a great chance to work on the flat between the jumps. Do a lot of flatwork, circles and extending and collecting the stride, lead changes, exc. Think about doing flatwork with fences in between. Your horse is cute! And I don't know what your position looked like before, but it looks pretty good now, except for that you could add a little more release, like BuntEquestrian said. Also you could stand to lift your hands a little bit out of your lap. At some points it looks like you're leaning on them a bit. But overall, a nice horse and a good ride.

Thanks for the advice. We've been working a lot of flatwork at home. I don't really like to jump big at home, but flatwork is my favorite. I think changing the fences more often would get his attention for sure! He is just such a level headed guy, he went over a liverpool the first time we showed it to him without a fuss. He's a challenge to keep interested if the jumps aren't huge :\

I don't think I think enough about my hands. I didn't notice that I have "piano hands" but now I kinda see it. My reins could be a little shorter too, the line is broken from bit to elbow. Do y'all see the disunited canter to the little stone wall? Any exercises to help that?

BuntEq, he is a thoroughbred out of Pleasant Tap and a River Man mare.

Definitely lift up your hands and keep the connection between your horse's mouth and your hands, collecting his energy. You tend to lose that connection. If you keep his energy focused between your leg and the bit, he'll have to be engaged and paying attention.

Try going around the edge of your ring or wherever it is that you're practicing, in a wiiiiiiiiiiiiide circle. Let the tension go out of one side of your reins, tighten up with the other side (not pulling, just connected. There's a difference.) then after 3 strides switch to the other rein tight. This is more of an exercise for your leg than your hands, actually, despite appearances, to get him engaged from your leg.

To help bring your hands up, one of my favorite exercises is to take a crop and hold it in both hands, horizontal across the neck, so you can't bring your hands down because the neck is in the way. You can't collect much like this, I've found, or at least I'm not very good at it, but it's a good exercise and it gets the point across.

If you look around the internet/in books, you'll find a ton of more exercises to help keep your horse collected and as a consequence energetic from the leg. These are just my favorites.

If you feel like you're disunited coming to a jump and you're just jumping small by yourself, don't be afraid to just circle before the fence to give yourself more time to get that good, engaged canter going.

If you like flatwork, have you ever considered riding dressage? Just a thought.

Kitty, I rode dressage for several years but my horse decided that he wants to be a jumper. He loves it so much, and he gets very frustrated with dressage in large quantities. Thanks for the exercises, I will work on them ASAP! Thanks Levade, he really is. The bit helps a little, but not even that fixes it completely. Flatwork was my solution but I see we need more work.

Your looking good! I think you should keep your hip angle more open though. You don't need to be so bent forward when cantering. I do the same thing too though... I can't really see your hands well but it looks like you have your hands flat. Remember to keep your thumbs up and thumbs pointing to the opposite ear on the side that your hands on if that makes sense. And maybe you can try to pick up your hands a little more. It kind of seems like their "in the mane". Great ride though!

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